Long story short, I'll be bringing my kids (Kindergarten and 1st grade) home for schooling but we are going to be enrolled in a virtual charter school through the public schools.. We applied to 3 different schools (one used k-12, one used connections academy), but the one I like the best and the one we are going with gives us a choice between calvert curriculum and Little Lincoln curriculum.. I've been looking into both and leaning towards Little Lincoln because I think its more internet based and hands on approach would be well suited to my autistic son and ADHD daughter.. The routine is the same each day but the means of learning are divided into a number of different teaching methods and I think that would be good for my 2. www.littlelincoln.org is the site.

I have heard good things about calvert but from going through their website I dont feel like its quite as diverse as far as incorporating varied learning styles.. but maybe I'm wrong?

Basically, I'm wondering if anyone here has had experience with either the Calvert or Little Lincoln curriculums and if so, what was your experience? How did it work for you? How well did you like it?

I am using Calvert PreK right now with my 3.5 year old. I like it and plan on going on to Kindergarden with him using Calvert in the fall. It is a bit flexible but I wouldn't call it really good with different learning styles but it does give you ideas for different projects. I have also skipped over areas that I know he can't do. They are good about reviewing subjects too so while DS couldn't draw a straight line in December (when we started it) he can now and does it well.

I am not sure we will continue on with Calvert after next year. I really want my son in another distant learning school but it will depend on if we can afford it at that point. If we can't afford the other school then likely I will stay with Calvert as it is fairly complete of an education I believe. And at the end of the day that is what I really want.

I have used Calvert for 1st & 2nd grade and will keep using it. It is very academically grounded! We've had great results. It is very adaptable too, my son has difficulty writing large amounts as of yet, so we cover a lot of the work-pages orally. He has learned very well. Calvert also has a division for children who need special accommodation, V-something or other - lol - it is on their website!

On the side of learning... I did Calvert twice in my 10 years of being homeschooled, and liked it both times! I kept some of the books around and read them for fun for years later. I liked having someone outside of my mom to give me feedback (but was totally ok with just her the other years). My mom was very good about supplementing though. Calvert was the core, and then we did other things on the side. For example, we used a separate math curriculum and she'd do a lot of cooking with me and make me figure out how to double or half, etc. We'd go to the park and collect different leaves, etc.

My brother has some learning disabilities and Calvert was ok for him, but she needed to do a lot with it.

Hope that helps!

__________________Marie - Living my dreams! Mama to a bright and busy big girl, a sweet little toddler girl and expecting a surprise in November! If I'm not with my daughters, then I'm or doing or spending time with the husband or... what else? here on DS!

Before I read the other responses, I want to give you my opinion on Little Lincoln. We used it this year for my 3rd grader and my kindergartner. I didn't enjoy it and the kids didn't really like it either. There's a TON of busy work for both, in my opinion. DD (K) hasn't really gotten much from it this year. I've been schooling her myself and having her just play the games and do the required worksheets. We won't be returning to it next year. Initially she liked using the "stickers" on the story areas, but then got bored with it and the videos left something to be desired. She really wasn't getting anything from it. It wasn't until I did it all myself that she really started understanding.

What do you mean by busy work? Just curious.. I'm trying to figure out whether Little Lincoln or Calvert would be best so I'd love to here a little more about how the little lincoln curriculum plays out in terms of schedule and what a "typical" day looks like? How many hours a day did it take to get through the day's lesson? You are the first person that has responded that has any experience with Little Lincoln so if you don't mind, I'd love to hear a little more about it. Another question i have is about the off-line work.. what kinds of activities are provided? What is the science curriculum like? Thanks.